Just Aang
by lyrical-harmonies
Summary: "It's so weird. You talk about him like he's just some normal person." Katara laughed. "He may have been the Avatar, but he was also my best friend." Minor canon shipping.
1. A New Story

"Pabu! Where are you?" Bolin called. "This isn't our house and- oh! There you are little guy." Pabu chirped happily and bounced over to Bolin. "What do you have here?" The fire ferret gently released the piece of paper into his master's hands. Bolin surveyed what seemed to be a painting. There were eight people, all looking to be about his age, and an old man in what looked like a tea shop. Many of the kids, including the bald monk, looked vaguely familiar, but the only real Air Nomad he had ever known was Tenzin, so Bolin dismissed it. He had never seen a group of people look so happy just to be in each other's company.

"That's one of my favorites," said an aged voice from the doorway. "Aang had just turned sixteen and we all met at the Jasmine Dragon to celebrate. Later that night, he took me out onto the balcony and shoved something into my hand and starting babbling. 'I made this for you. I know that it's a Northern Water Tribe custom, but I didn't know what else to do. I'm sixteen now, which again is a Northern Water Tribe thing, but I think it's a good age and we don't have to do anything right away, we can wait as long as you want if you even want to in the first place, but I've known for a long time now, Katara, that I !' I laughed and told him to slow down, that there was nothing to be nervous about. He then asked me to marry him, right there in the same spot we had our first real kiss. He was so funny. He actually thought I'd say no." The old waterbender smiled softly as she took the painting from the boy's hands.

"So that," Bolin pointed to the airbender in the painting, "is Avatar Aang?"

"No." Bolin's face twisted in confusion. "It's just Aang."

"It's so weird."

"What is?" Katara inquired.

"You talk about Avatar Aang like he was just some normal person, not like he was a superhero with incredible powers."

"He _was_ a hero, with powers beyond your imagination, but he was also my best friend. Korra's just a normal person, isn't she?"

"Korra's amazing, but she's _the_ Avatar, not _the_ Avatar Aang."

Katara chuckled. "No, she certainly isn't. Korra and the boy I found in the iceberg are two very different people. Back then, I didn't even know he was the Avatar. He was just some goofy kid who liked penguin sledding and licked his frozen glider because he thought it was funny when his tongue got stuck."

"What's penguin sledding?"

"I'm afraid I'm getting a bit old for it. You're going to have to ask Korra or Ikki to show you. Or Lin. She always seemed to have a natural talent for it. She reminds me so much of her mother."

"Is that her?" Bolin pointed to a pale young woman in the picture with her hair styled in the same way as the statue outside the police headquarters. "Chief Beifong, I mean. The first one."

"Oh, just call her Toph. None of us ever used titles outside of political proceedings, and Toph ignored them even then. She had her _own_ nicknames for us. It was horrible sometimes. It was so hard to take Aang seriously during the peace meetings with Toph calling him 'Twinkle Toes,' especially since he always responded."

Bolin laughed. "Who is everyone else?"

"Well, that," she pointed to a man who bore a resemblance to herself, "is my brother, Sokka, and his girlfriend Suki. I'm right next to Aang, and I think you can guess who that is." She pointed to a man with what had come to be an iconic scar.

"Fire Lord Zuko?" guessed Bolin.

"Yes, and next to him is Mai, and next to her is Ty Lee. And the old man is Zuko's Uncle Iroh."

"Who's Ty Lee? I don't think I've heard of her before."

"She's better known in the Fire Nation, but how about I tell you more after dinner. That's the reason I came in the first place, to let you know dinner was ready. I guess I got sidetracked. Oops…"

They wandered into the small dining room and were met with mixed reactions.

"Gran Gran! We started eating without you, cause Meelo was very, very, very hungry. I hope that's okay!" Ikki cried.

"I tried to stop them Mother," Tenzin blushed, embarrassed at his lack of control over his own children.

"Oh, it's nothing to worry about. I'm sorry you had to wait so long. Bolin had found an old picture and I got a little sidetracked." Bolin and Katara took their places at the table, cueing all the adults that they could finally eat.

Korra turned to Bolin. "Which story did you get to hear?"

Before Bolin could answer, Ikki interrupted, "My favorite is the one where you threw a dance party for a bunch of Fire Nation kids!"

"I love the one about the time they escaped from the Fire Nation prison," Jinora sighed.

"What about the one where Zuko and Aang met the dragons? That had to have been so cool!" exclaimed Korra.

Bolin tried once again to speak, but was interrupted by Lin. "I like the time you stole that waterbending scroll from the pirates."

Katara cleared her throat. "Bolin found the painting we had done when we were at the Jasmine Dragon for Aang's sixteenth birthday. I told him about when he proposed." Mako chuckled when all of the girls sighed.

"Wow," said Mako. "It sounds like you had some amazing adventures."

"I would love to hear more about them sometime," Asami smiled.

"Why don't I tell you all more after dinner?" suggested Katara. "I already promised Bolin I'd tell him more about Ty Lee, but after that, someone else can pick."

"Yay!" squealed Ikki. "Daddy! What's your favorite story?"

Tenzin smiled. "I'm particularly fond of the story of when your Grandmother and Grandfather first met, Ikki."

"Ah yes, the beginning," Katara sighed. "A very good place to start."

**A/N:** I really want to continue this, but I make no promises, so it's complete for now. I don't want it to turn into one of those 'everybody watches Avatar' fics, but it feels like it may end up going that way. More than anything, I thought it would be interesting to compare the world's picture of Aang to Aang the person, and Bolin, Asami, and Mako are the perfect way to do that. Oh yes, and because I probably didn't make it clear, this takes place in the Southern Water Tribe, a day or two after Korra gets her bending back.

Also, every time I read my own writing, I notice that it's usually dialogue driven, and although that's strong, my prose needs some work. Any suggestions?


	2. The Boy in the Iceberg

After dinner, their places were cleared and everyone quickly settled into the main room of the compound. By that time, the subject of Ty Lee had long been forgotten. Bolin was still curious, but knew everyone else wanted Katara to tell her stories, and didn't have the heart to interrupt their excitement.

Katara laughed as she took her seat and Ikki, Jinora, and Bolin raced to sit near her. Asami tried to discretely scoot forward, while Pema excused herself, having to put Rohan and Meelo down for bed.

"When I first met Aang," Katara began, "I was only fourteen. My brother and I had gone out fishing. Well, Sokka was trying to fish. I was practicing my waterbending. Sokka had said something stupid and I got mad. I started yelling at him, and I got so upset that the ice around us responded. It revealed a huge frozen glowing bubble with someone inside. I grabbed Sokka's club and broke the ice. There was a beam of light and a lot of wind and then there was a young boy in strange clothes with strange markings."

"Ooh!" Ikki volunteered. "That was Grandpa Aang. Right Gran Gran? Right?"

"Yes, Ikki, but at that point he was just some boy Sokka and I found in an iceberg. Sokka wanted to leave him alone and abandon the poor boy there. He had had enough 'magic' for the day, but I saw he was alive and gently woke him up. He whispered for me to come closer, like he had some grave secret to tell me. I leaned in toward him, waiting for his request. Suddenly his eyes were wide and his voice lost it's weight, and he asked if I would go penguin sledding with him."

"Penguin sledding," Bolin stated. "I want to do that."

"How about we all go tomorrow, Bolin?" Korra offered. Bolin nodded and turned his attention back to Katara, while Korra settled herself again in Mako's arms.

"He introduced himself and Appa. He was an Air Nomad and an airbender. Sokka and I were in shock. No one had seen an airbender in one hundred years. We asked him if he knew anything about the missing Avatar, hoping to find help in the war. He said he didn't know the Avatar and asked us what war we were talking about. He had no idea. He had been trapped in the iceberg for one hundred years."

"We took him to our village," Katara continued, "and introduced him to my Gran. Sokka was convinced that he was a Fire Nation spy. Gran Gran was wary about him, too, but all I saw was another bender. I was the only waterbender in my tribe and all I knew, I had taught myself. I had asked Aang to teach me, but told me he couldn't waterbend, that he could only bend air, but he offered to take me to the North Pole on his sky bison to find a master."

"He was fascinated by the world, and I was fascinated by him." Katara's eyes had glazed over, as if she was somewhere far away. "In those few days, he reminded me how to have fun. How to be a kid. We went penguin sledding and exploring. We were exploring an old Fire Nation ship when we set off a booby trap. It sent up a flare, and Sokka and the rest of the villagers were afraid that it had sent a signal to the Fire Nation. They banished Aang, and when he left, I reluctantly stayed behind. As he was leaving, Aang saw a Fire Nation ship approaching. Zuko showed up at our village, looking for the Avatar. Aang offered himself up as the Avatar, afraid that Zuko would harm the villagers otherwise. Zuko left with his captive and Sokka and I went after him. That was the day we left our village, convinced that we had some role to play in a story bigger than we could imagine, and didn't look back until the war was over."

Asami nodded gently, "You miss him, don't you?"

Katara pulled herself from her daydreams and looked at the girl. "Every day," she said. "He was the best thing that ever happened to me. He was more than the Avatar. He was my best friend. He taught me how to live. How to love." She laughed silently and glanced in the direction of Korra and Mako. "He had this theory. He thought that each Avatar only ever fell in love once and that it was always at first sight. He always said I was his once."

Mako looked down at Korra wrapped in his arms. His eyes asked a million different questions. She kissed him gently and he knew that his questions would all be answered, but it was something that could be done later.

Quietly, Katara dismissed the group that had gathered for the story, claiming that it was time for bed. She turned and started towards her room, but was stopped by a light touch on her shoulder. She turned again to find Asami with watery eyes.

"What you said about the Avatar only falling in love once," she started. "Does that mean he and I had been doomed from the start? Was all my heartbreak pointless?"

Katara gave the girl a gentle smile. "It means that although you weren't meant to be long term, you both had important things to learn from each other. No pain or heartbreak is ever pointless. It's what gives us the chance to grow."

Asami nodded as she absorbed what Katara had said. She and Mako were over, but she had become a better person because of him, and she knew that wasn't something she would trade.

"Thank you Master Katara." Asami bowed awkwardly in a way that didn't belong to any one nation.

"Just Katara is fine," Katara replied. "And you are welcome. Though I'm thinking it's getting much to late for a woman of my age to still be up. You were shown Korra's room earlier, yes? You two will share her room for the time being. Everything should already be arranged for you."

Asami smiled slightly as Katara took her leave. Tomrrow was a new day. She had her own role to play in the Avatar's story, and they all had more to learn from each other.

**A/N:** I've never had so much positive feedback so quickly. I understand now what authors mean when they say reviews motivate them. I meant to get this up a couple of days ago, but my life was kind of put on hold Friday and Saturday. I spent both days watching my fb news feed and reading articles, trying to confirm that none of my friends got caught up in the shooting in Aurora. The theatre is only twenty-five minutes away from my house. I was freaking out.

Anyways, I'm fully aware that I just put Ty Lee on hold, but I want to do the whole thing justice. Can anyone else see Bolin and Ty Lee together (if they were in the same time frame)? They would skip down the streets of Republic City, pushing Pabu in a stroller. Seriously. Also, I listened to "8th World Wonder" by Kimberley Locke the whole time I wrote this. It's a perfect Aang/Katara song, along with a bunch of my favorite pairings.


	3. Back to Before

The next morning found Katara watching the kids go penguin sledding from a window in the compound, a million thoughts dancing through her head. Had it really been that long since she first went penguin sledding with him? Oftentimes, she felt like she had just cracked open the iceberg yesterday, yet his death had come a lifetime ago.

Earlier that morning, Tenzin had asked her how she was doing. For a brief moment, it was Aang asking, and she truly considered the question, but before she could give an answer, it was Tenzin in front of her once again. She was well. Of course she was well, and even if she wasn't, she wouldn't burden her son with that knowledge. Alone in her room, she repeated the question to herself. How was she doing? Life in the Southern Water Tribe was normal. With Korra gone, she had fallen into the routine monotony that she had always associated with the South Pole. With the time before she had met Aang.

It was a life she had once sworn she could never return to, but here she was. She had returned to the South Pole to mentor Korra, but Korra lived in Republic City now. And she was still here.

She had never been one who was content with standing on the sidelines. Recounting old stories and hearing the new Avatar's stories had reminded her of that. But she had also never faced the rest of the world without Aang at her side. The South Pole was safe. There was little surprise, and therefore little heartache.

She wasn't unhappy by any means, but she knew she wasn't happy either.

She had meant to present her idea to Tenzin alone, but Pema's presence didn't bother her. She proposed that she move to Air Temple Island with them. She wouldn't get in the way and they wouldn't have to take care of her, but she could help Pema with the kids, and maybe teach waterbending in the city.

Tenzin agreed. She had known that he wouldn't say no, but Pema's enthusiasm at the offer encouraged her feeling that it was a good decision. That she wouldn't be more trouble than she was worth. She knew the Air Nomad culture well; she had happily lived it for a good part of her life. Tenzin also mentioned that she had a lot more experience with teenaged girls. It came off as a joke, but Katara heard a sigh of relief behind his words. Korra could be a handful and he had very little idea about how to handle Asami's situation.

Republic City needed its Avatar once more, and maybe it could use her again, too. It wouldn't be like it was before. It was now an established city with its own issues that had nothing to do with the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation, but it was still growing, still building and rebuilding, and she was good at that.

She knew she didn't have many years left, but at least she could spend the time she did have with family and friends.

**AN:** Shorter than normal, but I wanted to get something out. I actually have some idea as to how I want the next chapter to go, so hopefully the wait won't be as long.

This was largely inspired by the song "Back to Before" from _Ragtime: The Musical_ by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty. For those of you who don't know me, I'm kind of a musical theatre freak. (Huge understatement…) It's a beautiful song. Go listen to it. Seriously.


End file.
